First there was the highly anticipated Google glasses, now the web giant has taken an unexpected step in wearable technology by unveiling plans for a talking smart shoe.
The concept, displayed at the South by Southwest music, film , and interactive festival in Austin, Texas, makes use of a custom made micro-controller on the tongue of a pair of Adidas shoes.
The android connected Google shoe communicates via a speaker wired through the tongue that is linked to the wearers headphones.
Fitted with an accelerometer, gyroscope and pressure sensors, the trainers send messages of either encouragement or discouragement depending on the wearers movement and direction.
When the user is inactive, the shoe offers various messages such as “if standing still was was a sport, you’d be world champion” and “this is super boring”. If the user is active however, the shoe responds positively with messages such as” call 911 because you are on fire” and “I love the feeling of wind through my laces”.
Fitness fanatics shouldn’t get excited just yet however, with Google having no plans of putting the shoe into production.
A representative for the company recently told technology blog Engadget that google wasn’t getting into the footwear business. “The whole reason we’re doing this….is to show what happens when you collect a lot of data and use that data to tell interesting, funny, relevant stories in new and different ways.” – Kaycee Jane Shingles-Moore
Photo from Daily Marauders photostream.
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